Business training offered to Camp Pendleton Marine vets

Federal SBA-led program includes course in entrepreneurship

There's a new initiative to help jobless veterans start their own businesses, and one of the pilot locations is Camp Pendleton.

The program, which will eventually be offered to all service members, includes a 90-minute introductory entrepreneurship course; an eight-week online training in business planning; and referrals to other business assistance.

The current unemployment rate for veterans is 8.9 percent, compared with 8.3 percent for the nation as a whole. President Barack Obama has made veteran employment a priority, said SBA Western Region Administrator Elizabeth Echols.

"We've got 250,000 service members transitioning back to civilian life each year so the Boots to Business program is designed to help them to become entrepreneurs and create jobs," Echols said.

The Boots to Business training program, which will be available to transitioning service members and veterans, is a partnership between the Small Business Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to help them become entrepreneurs and create jobs. Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup is a national initiative that will be piloted with the U.S. Marine Corps. The announcement was made today by U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills and U.S. Marine Corps representatives at Quantico, VA.

The program is beginning immediately as a pilot in four locations: Quantico, Va., Cherry Point, N.C., and two California locations: Camp Pendleton and Twenty-Nine Palms. It will be expanded across the nation during fiscal year 2013 with the goal of providing entrepreneurial training and awareness to transitioning service members from all branches of the military.